The physical therapist lifts one of Henry’s arms, then the other, his partner working to stabilize my brother so he can sit upright for his exercises. Sweat beads on Henry’s forehead, and the way he’s gritting his teeth makes my heart ache. The only silver lining in his accident was the fact that he lived through it...and the fact that he might have a shot at regaining full function of his body one day. But the doctors still don’t know if the spinal injury will linger for the rest of his life.

The issues with insurance haven’t made anything easier. I’d have taken him to task for letting his policy lapse if I’d known.

“I have some good news.”

My mother sits in one of the chairs beside me, but when I speak she gestures for me to get up. “Let’s go get something in the cafeteria.”

She leads the way down the hallway, into the elevator, and down to the first floor atrium. They’ve set it up so that, if it weren’t for the doctors and nurses populating the tables among family members, you could almost believe you were in a regular pizza restaurant.

“Where’s Dad?” I ask her the question while we wait in line.

She flicks her eyes toward the ceiling. This is code for sitting in our darkened apartment. The business went under, and so did he. Nobody wants to make any deals with him. Not now, anyway, and he’s become obsessed with digging us out through starting another business. It’s not going to happen. Not when he looks wild-eyed and crazed whenever he comes out of the corner he now calls his office.

My mother orders a medium cheese and pepperoni, then takes a seat across from me, two Diet Cokes in hand. She passes one across to me and settles in. “What’s the news?”

More than a little guilt twists at my heart when I meet her dark eyes, which look tired. Tired and worn. There’s a hint of hope in her gaze and I swallow hard. I can’t let her down. I can’t let any of them down. 

“I guess I’ll tell you the bad news first.”

She smiles a little. “Tell me.”

“The estate sale didn’t go well.” 

Mom shakes her head, but her face doesn’t fall like I expected. “What’s the good news?”

“The good news is that I’ve found a different arrangement. At the estate sale, we had a visit from a man named Levi Blake.” I’m sitting in a pizza cafe with my mother, but his name on my tongue sends an electric bolt of delight down my spine. It’s ridiculous—beyond ridiculous—because in every other way I can’t stand him. I can’t stand him, except when he’s inches away, hands around my face instead of digging through my family’s possessions. 

The name registers, and my mom’s eyebrows shoot so far up they nearly get lost in her hairline. “Levi Blake?”

“Yes, Levi Blake.”

“Levi Blake strolled into the estate sale, and you didn’t sell everything to him?”

“No, he—”

“Good for you.” My mom nods firmly, a gleam in her eyes.

I stare at her. “Good for me? I thought you’d be—” I laugh out loud. “I thought you’d be so pissed.”

She makes a face. “Not in the least. The Blakes are not considerate people.”

“How do you know them?”

Mom waves a hand in the air. “Your father used to belong to a club.”

From the impression I got, the Blakes are far wealthier than even we used to be. How much money did my dad lose, exactly? The question burns in my chest, but I’m sure as hell not going to ask it now. “Okay.” I steel myself. “Okay.”

My mom narrows her eyes. “Did you just now decide the good news wasn’t so good after all?”

“Maybe.”

“Out with it.”

A skinny waitress appears next to the table and slides the pizza between us on a metal rack. She beams down at my mother and me. “Does everything look right?” Mom gives it a cursory glance, then nods her away.

I take a deep breath. “I didn’t sell everything to Levi Blake, but when I got into contact with him after the sale, he offered to host an auction. He’s—” My mom’s eyebrows are officially lost. “He’s liquidating the house.”

She leans back in her seat. “Wow.”

I’m hanging on her every word. The biggest reason I shoved my pride down to the pit of my gut and ignored it while it screamed and fought is because I thought she needed this. Now I’m not so sure. “You can’t leave it at wow.”

Mom cocks her head to the side. “An auction is better than whatever paltry amount he probably offered you.”

“I really thought you’d be pleased.”

“I am pleased.” She looks at me, suspicion in her eyes. “I just—to be honest, Ruby, I’m not sure how you pulled it off.”

“Pulled what off?”

“The Blakes aren’t known for their generosity—at least, they weren’t when your father was looking for investors, back when his company was new.” She sighs. “We looked into having an auction, but the seller’s fees were so high, and the work was so involved, that we didn’t have time. He’s going to do this all for you?”

“Yes. He’s—he’s handling it personally.”

She gives me a sly smile, drumming her fingertips on the tabletop. “He must be a different man than his father.”

“What’s his father like?”

“Nothing like your father, that’s for sure.”

I want to make some snappy comment about how Levi’s father didn’t lose all of their family’s money, but I quell the urge. Don’t be nasty. My mother is still looking across the table at me with a gleam in her dark eyes that reminds me of being in high school.

“What?”

“There’s another possibility, too,” she says.

“What’s that, Mom?” I make a show of looking at the pizza like I’m trying to decide on a slice. 

Her eyes sparkle, and she leans in like she doesn’t want any of the strangers surrounding us to overhear her. “He’s smitten with you.”

“What is wrong with you?” I give her a bewildered smile. “You just said the Blakes weren’t...weren’t considerate people.” I keep talking in hopes of distracting her from the fact that my cheeks are burning.

“People can change.”

“Over the course of one conversation?”

“Maybe.”

“Well,” I say briskly, “I don’t think he’s smitten with me.”

“Oh? He just agreed to host an auction for you out of the goodness of his heart?”

“People aren’t necessarily the same as their fathers.” Why am I defending him? I didn’t like him when I first saw him—in fact, he seemed every bit as ruthless and arrogant as my mother seems to think Blake Senior is.

“You have a point. In fact, I think I’m right. There’s a strong chance that you caught the eye of a Blake, and if I know anything about Blakes—”

“I’m not sure that you do.”

She ignores me. “—then you might have a tough time getting rid of him. They tend to go after what they want. Relentlessly.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re being insane. What do you want me to do, marry him?”

“Oh, no, Ruby. I want you to—” She takes in a deep breath through her nose and lets it out. “I want you to...seize the opportunity. Have the auction. God knows we need that. Just...proceed with caution.” She says it with a smile. “Pizza?”